Lose weight AND keep it off!

Keys To Effective Long Term, Sustainable Weight Loss

So you’ve taken a look in the mirror and don’t like what is staring back at you….

Thats it I’m going on a diet…..

Well… I will start Monday it will give me a chance to eat all the remaining bad stuff in the cupboard then i won’t be tempted!

cos you have no willpower right?

I have been working in the world of weight loss for a number of years. Over that time it has become clear that there is one part of the body solely responsible for success or failure….

Your mind.

Let me explain……

Our mind controls our thoughts. It then controls what emotion we put in to those thoughts. So if we are missing our 8pm snack cos we are on a diet then the emotions thrown in are sacrifice, frustration, unhappiness and a feeling of something missing

not exactly conducive to a long-term solution

so the point of this blog is to try to get you in the right mindset for finally overcoming your hurdles and finally getting rid of that spare tyre:

“You’ll only change when the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of doing something about it”

^^^^^^^truth^^^^^^^^

So where are you right now? Have you had enough? Is the pain enough for you to do something about it?

Is the pain of feeling self-conscious, clothes not fitting properly or feeling unattractive enough in your mind to take you forward

Or do you put this pain to the back of your mind and ignore it and crack on as you are

Your body shape and how you look does not in itself define who you are

But the way you carry yourself as a by-product of how you look can define you and your personality and how you are perceived by others

Think back to a time in your life where you felt you looked good? Your wedding day, A specific night out, strutting down Magaluf beach when you were 18 (that’s mine!)

What did that feel like? Would you love to have that again?

If you don’t think that’s possible that’s your mind letting you down again with what is a limiting belief

and a belief is just a thought that we have thought for so long that we believe it to be true, even if we have no evidence that it is true.

so if this you my friend….

Keep reading as here are my top tips:

1.Shift your mind-set from outcomes to changing behaviours:

If you have decided to lose weight you have probably set up a parameter for what is a success. I want to lose 2 stone, I want to get back in those clothes etc. The problem with this is it will be either a success or a failure and chances are you have failed a lot of times reinforcing those limiting beliefs.

To really make a LASTING change you need to make a lifestyle change. Your current lifestyle has taken you to where you are and you don’t like it there so why do so many people change this lifestyle get some success and then revert back to the original and gain everything back? It’s because their mind was focused purely on the outcome not the behaviour. Therefore it is natural to revert back to what you have always known. We are creatures of habit but habits are learned behaviours and we can learn new habits you just have to commit to them.

So if you work with a professional they can assess your diet and help you make the changes you need. It’s all tied in to getting the desired outcome but it starts by learning the behaviours first:

For example if you always have a takeaway pizza on a friday night you may commit to changing that behaviour – you may choose to eradicate it altogether or make your own healthy version at home. If you haven’t exercised in a long time you might commit to going out for a walk after dinner for 15 minutes every evening. Lots of mini behavioural changes will make a huge impact. If you made 3 mini changes a week to improve your lifestyle over 3 months you will have made nearly 40 changes!! That will hugely impact your results and make the changes part of your life

Balance:

The number one reason people fail is because they have an all or nothing mentality. They give up everything they like and then normally fall off the wagon spectacularly and undo all their hard work

It not only makes us miserable it takes us to the point where we start to feel like life was better the way it was. Sure we didn’t like how we looked but it was better than feeling like this.

My advice is this. An all or nothing mentality is hell for your emotional state. Living a life of restriction, restriction, restriction will ultimately end up with you shouting Fuck it i can’t do this anymore!! Exercise will be a chore, food will be become an annoying hassle and you will revert back to where you were before

By making 3 simple changes a week you will still be able to keep most of your favourite foods in your diet. One of your simple changes might be to reduce your portion sizes. You won’t feel restricted by eating what you like you are just raising your awareness of how much you are taking in. Just eating chicken and broccoli every night and a salad at lunch removes any joy you get from food and just sets you up for failure. Which leads me on nicely to….

Calories in vs calories out:

Yes i know you’ve heard this one a million times before!! Sadly it is 100% the key as to whether the mirror or the scales tell you what you want or not. I’m going to keep this one short and sweet. Start tracking EVERYTHING you eat. To lose fat you need to be in a calorie deficit if you’re not you don’t lose weight.

If you have a smart phone you can track everything on myfitnesspal or similar. You will find the three simple changes you need to make per week just from this information. If you can’t be arsed then you are basically shooting arrows in the dark hoping to hit the bullseye. All the information you need is there to get you on your way

I use food diaries with all my weight loss clients. Why because they work. They also give front of mind awareness to what they are doing. If you aren’t doing this start TODAY and thank me later

Remove the restrictive mindset:

As mentioned before the all or nothing approach doesn’t work long-term. The majority of people when starting a plan just want to feel better than they do right now. So you can follow a diet that is perfect and exercise 5 times a week but won’t there be a time when life takes over? Unless you are an olympic athlete or professional sportsman you don’t need a diet that is optimal you need one that is sustainable

No food is off-limits you just need to eat within your calorie means and move more than you are right now. You need to make changes that fit in seamlessly to your current lifestyle so that they become part of your life. The way you look is like a shop window of how you live your life:

overweight? Calories in is higher than calories out. Habit change – commit to eating smaller portions in the evenings, do 1 hour per week of additional exercise or start tracking what your eating and pick holes in it and make changes

you get the point

Stop trying to do everything at once. Give yourself a chance. The bad habits you have accumulated over time did not cause you to gain 3 stone in a week so don’t expect to lose it that quickly either

Be patient. Be consistent and if you make a mistake along the way get over it and move on. This is a lifestyle change not a quick fix.

Life goes on and will challenge you on your journey. If you stick to these principles and make them habit they won’t knock you off course

and don’t let those limiting beliefs hold you back

P.S. Need help? I have a limited number of free 60 minute transformation sessions available. Here we will map out a blueprint personal to you and your life to get you on your way.